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Formed in 1978, Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations devoted to defending and protecting human rights. Having long recognized the power of film to educate and bring change, the organization’s New York-based Human Rights Watch Film Festival screens approximately 500 films in 20 cities around the world each year. The 2016 edition of its New York City event is presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and IFC Center from June 10 through 19, featuring 18 feature films and three interactive programs. Here are some highlights:

Hooligan Sparrow

Opening Night selection is Hooligan Sparrow, which documents the efforts of filmmaker Nanfu Wang to track Chinese activist Ye Haiyan (aka “Hooligan Sparrow”) in her mission to prosecute a school principal who arranged the rape of schoolgirls by government officials. Sparrow, a women’s rights advocate who first made headlines by speaking up for sex workers, seeks to close a loophole in China’s child prostitution laws that has enabled officials to elude rape charges by claiming that the victims were prostitutes. Hooligan Sparrow shows its protagonist and a small group of fellow protestors being harassed regularly by government-hired thugs, as Wang uses hidden cameras to record interactions with uncooperative police officials. Sparrow avoids arrest by fleeing to several cities during the course of the film, including her home village, as she awaits the verdict in the schoolgirl case. For Hooligan Sparrow, Wang will receive the festival’s 2016 Nestor Almendros Award for courage in filmmaking.

Sonita

Closing the festival is the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Sonita, a powerful film by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami that follows a teenage Afghan refugee living in Iran, in her quest to become a rapper, despite overwhelming odds. Much to Sonita Alizadeh’s despair, her mother is determined to obtain a “bride price” by marrying her off in order to finance her brother’s marriage. Also, though Sonita studies at a relatively progressive center in Iran and is supported by a sympathetic social worker, women are prohibited from singing solo in that country. The determined Sonita nevertheless finds a producer to record her songs, which eventually leads to a popular YouTube video for the emotional track “Brides for Sale” and an offer to attend school in the U.S. As in Hooligan Sparrow, the filmmaker becomes part of the story, as Maghami ultimately involves herself in Sonita’s plight. Though many feel that the role of a nonfiction filmmaker is strictly to document events, that ideal often becomes impossible when dealing with human rights subjects.

Another compelling film dealing with women’s rights, Michele Mitchell and Nick Louvel’s The Uncondemned follows an international group of young lawyers and activists as they work to have rape recognized as a war crime at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Their mission to indict a mayor of one village depends on the testimony of a group of victims, organized by one brave soul whose husband and daughter are murdered as a warning to would-be witnesses.

Chapter & Verse

One of only two dramas presented by the festival, Jamal Joseph’s Chapter & Verse is the fictional story of S. Lance Ingram (Daniel Beaty, who wrote the script), a reformed gang leader from Harlem who returns to the neighborhood after serving eight years in prison. This clear-eyed film shows Ingram grappling with his menial meal-delivery job, a soul-sucking halfway house and neighborhood toughs, but also developing deep friendships with an elderly woman and her grandson, in addition to a local barber who runs an informal gym. Though fictional, Chapter & Verse realistically portrays the plight of many who fight to stay straight.

Another fascinating glimpse into the lives of women in Iran, Mehrdad Oskouei’s Starless Dreams is a snapshot of a female juvenile delinquent center in Tehran. Teenage girls guilty of carjacking, drug dealing and murder act tough, but suffer depression and general hopelessness as they face the prospect of being released to abusive families or other untenable life situations. The girls form a strong camaraderie in a sad place that is nevertheless a sort of respite from reality.

The Crossing

A timely festival entry, George Kurian’s The Crossing is a first-person account of a group of Syrian refugees in Egypt (where things are not much better), who flee to Europe, smuggled across the Mediterranean in a small boat. The film uses footage taken by refugee Rami Aramouni, an IT worker who buys a camera to document the exhausting and risky trek. Aramouni’s fellow travelers are also mostly middle-class professionals (a journalist, a pharmacist, a conservatory-trained musician) who “are not fleeing for a better life; they just want to have a life.” Once they arrive in various EU refugee sites, the struggle for normalcy continues as they await their asylum status and try to stay sane amid regulations that prevent them from working or attending school.

Ok, fashion creatives, now let’s get in formation! If you are passionate about streetwear design, be sure to create brand merchandising that seamlessly promotes your brand in a unique and fun way, and that stands out with Beyoncé-level swag.

After all, it’s not only a spectacular way to strengthen customer allegiance, it also pushes word about your company further into the world.

Even outside of the fashion world, Internet giants like Reddit and Mailchimp have discovered great success in brand merchandising.

For Reddit, their first run of promotional gear sold out in 24 hours. And, as spirits company Sweet Tea Vodka points out, company swag is a more widespread form of advertising: [Fans become like] “billboards walking around, which is great,” he says. “The beer companies have done it forever.”

As journalist Tim Donnelly writes in Inc., “brand merchandise is a great way to create new loyalties with your customers and enlist them to spread your name to new audiences.”

However there’s a caveat: “You have to do it in a way that creates viral sensations, not just oversized promotional T-shirts that end up at the bottom of someone’s closet.”

Below: Looks like Alessandro Michele took a risk using oversized promotional gear for a look that wins the day.

Photo: Getty Images

In Brooklyn, non-profit arts organization CariBBeing has developed a strong following thanks in part to their vibrant tees, tote bags and more sold via their online store.

Below: A company tee featuring “I AM CARIBBEING” in Haitian Creole.

Photo: Shelley Worrell

Below: A company tote featuring “I AM CARIBBEING” in Haitian Creole.

Photo: Shelley Worrell

Still, regardless of an on-point line of brand merchandising, “experts say you shouldn’t expect it to become a significant part of your company’s profits.”

“It’s a great way, if you’re a new brand, to get your product going,” Sweet Tea Vodka co-founder tells Tim Donnelly. “I always look at it as advertising. If I can break even on it, I’m happy.”

The question of safety at shows gets rehashed at least once a year. Usually around festival season when there’s a surplus of concerts, all the top outlets, popular musicians, and related voices chime in as to what they think this means. Factors and examples of good, bad, and ugly behavior are paraded out and readers are asked rhetorically: What do we think about moshing? Is stage diving safe? What about selfie sticks? Should we allow “all ages” shows? Some of these concepts and actions are labeled as questionable or unsafe only for the spirit of debate; however, some raise valid issues. A selfie stick in a thick crowd does have the potential to hurt someone. Or at least really tick off the people behind the user enough to insight a tiny riot.

Everyone gathered on Tuesday night to see not only the documentary Danny Brown: Live at the Majestic, but also to see the famed rapper Danny Brown himself. Best known for his 2011 album XXX, the Detroit native has been quiet in recent years. Apart from voicing the Fresh Off The Boat theme song and writing a Seussian children’s book, Brown hasn’t released any new work or played many shows of late. This fact made his appearance at House of Vans all the more exciting. Those who had sustained themselves with the recorded versions of “Grown Up,” “Dip,” “Smokin & Drinkin,” and “25 Bucks” and longed to hear them live would finally get the chance.Read More→

The House of Vans sounds more like a lesser family in HBO’s Game of Thrones than a concert venue. At least in Brooklyn. Here, the famed shoe manufacturer is better known for its clothing than its concert space. Vans shoes, snapbacks, backpacks and hoodies can easily be found in just about any corner of the borough, but mention the House of Vans to a passerby and you’re likely to be met with confusion. Other venues like Irving Plaza, Terminal 5, and MSG have risen to the level of the common vernacular, amongst concertgoers and non-concertgoers alike; odds are even your landlord has heard of those. While the House of Vans doesn’t toil away at the level of obscurity of say Cake Shop or Palisades, the name doesn’t carry the weight it normally does. Out on the wider concert circuit, Vans rules supreme as sponsors of the famed Warped Tour. Here, it is just lesser known and that is a mistake.*Read More→